The best-designed rooms often look effortless.

Nothing feels forced.

The furniture sits naturally in the space.

The lighting falls where it should.

The joinery feels as though it has always belonged there.

The circulation works.

The room feels calm.

And because everything works so well, you barely notice the decisions behind it.

That is the strange thing about good design.

A lot of the work disappears.

When people think about interior design, they often imagine the visible decisions.

The kitchen colour.

The sofa.

The flooring.

The lighting.

The paint.

And of course, those things matter.

But the part of interior design that usually has the biggest impact on the final result is much less obvious.

It is the hundreds of decisions that sit underneath the finished room — and, more importantly, how all of those decisions connect.

There is something slightly strange happening in interiors at the moment.

For years, the goal seemed to be perfection.

Perfectly smooth walls. Perfectly matched furniture. Perfectly styled shelves. New kitchens that looked untouched. Homes where every finish was crisp, every object was intentional and almost nothing suggested that somebody actually lived there.

And I think we are finally getting a little tired of it.

"I'll do it when we move."

It's probably one of the most common things I hear.

We'll wait until we've found our forever home.

We'll wait until the extension is finished.

We'll wait until the children are older.

We'll wait until we've got a bigger budget.

We'll wait until the timing feels right.

Before you close this tab, hear me out.

I love Instagram.

It's introduced me to incredible designers, talented makers and beautiful homes from around the world. It's inspired my own work more times than I can count.

But I also think it's quietly changed the way we decorate our homes.

And not always for the better.

If I could give homeowners one piece of advice before they start renovating, it would be this:

Stop designing your home for the next owner.

Design it for yourself.

It sounds obvious, but it's something I see all the time.

People choose the "safe" kitchen because they're worried about resale.

They avoid colour because "what if someone else doesn't like it?"

If I could give homeowners one piece of advice before they start renovating, it would be this:

Stop designing your home for the next owner.

Design it for yourself.

It sounds obvious, but it's something I see all the time.

People choose the "safe" kitchen because they're worried about resale.

They avoid colour because "what if someone else doesn't like it?"

We often talk about creating homes for special occasions.

The kitchen for Christmas dinner.

The dining room for entertaining.

The guest bedroom for when family come to stay.

But here's the thing.

Most of our lives aren't lived on Christmas Day.

They're lived on a Monday morning.

This might sound strange coming from an interior designer, but I wish more homes had less. Less clutter, less pressure to fill every corner — and more room for the pieces that actually mean something.

If there's one thing I've learnt over the years, it's this:

Most people don't struggle because they make bad design decisions.

They struggle because they make them in the wrong order.

By the time many clients get in touch, they've already spent weeks, sometimes months, saving Pinterest images, ordering paint samples, choosing sofas and debating between brass or black handles.

But they've skipped the one thing that matters most.

The plan.

One of my favourite parts of being an interior designer is helping clients see the potential in their home from a completely different perspective.

By the time someone gets in touch, they usually have a clear idea of what they think the problem is.

"I need a bigger kitchen."

"We've outgrown the house."

"I think we need all new furniture."

Sometimes they're right. But more often than not, once we've explored how they use their home and what's frustrating them day to day, the real solution is something entirely different.

One of the questions I get asked most often is whether there are any design "rules" I always follow.

The truth is, good interior design is incredibly personal. What works beautifully for one person might not work at all for someone else.

That said, after years of working in design and helping clients create homes they genuinely love living in, there are a few things I personally wouldn't do in my own home.

While trends come and go, there are certain design decisions that stand the test of time. The ones that continue to make a home feel beautiful, practical and enjoyable to live in long after the project is complete.

When people think of hiring an interior designer, their mind usually jumps to colours, fabrics, and styling. Paint charts, velvet sofas, perfectly plumped cushions.

But here’s the truth: none of that matters if the bones of the room aren’t right. The secret to good design isn’t the colour on your walls — it’s the way your space is planned.

Space planning is the unglamorous cousin of interior design. It doesn’t look sexy on Instagram, but it’s the bit that makes everything else work. And honestly? It’s my favourite part of the job.

Renovating doesn’t have to feel like a second job. Where to actually start, the decisions worth making early, and why you don’t need to do everything at once.

There’s a certain type of home that instantly feels calm the moment you walk into it. Nothing is shouting for attention. Nothing feels overly styled. It just works. And usually, it’s not because the owners spent the most money. As an interior designer, I actually think the homes that feel the most luxurious are often the ones that feel the most personal.

The goal isn’t perfection. It’s atmosphere.

There are certain renovation decisions homeowners almost always wish they’d made earlier. Usually once the walls are plastered. Or the kitchen is ordered. Or the electrician is asking questions nobody feels qualified to answer.

As an interior designer, one of the biggest things I help clients with is making key decisions before construction begins — because that’s often what prevents stress, delays and expensive changes later on. Here are some of the biggest things worth thinking about before the builders arrive